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ECOTECExhaustive analysis of employment trends in all sectors related to sea or using sea resources

Spain


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An exhaustive analysis ofemployment trends in all sectorsrelated to sea or using sea resources

Country report – Spain

C3135 / August 2006

ECOTEC Research & ConsultingJoaquin de la Concha and Anne-Mari Nevala

Priestley House12-26 Albert StreetBirminghamB4 7UDUnited Kingdom

T +44 (0)121 616 3600F +44 (0)121 616 3699

www.ecotec.com


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Contents PAGE

1.0 Summary ............................. ................................ ................................ ... 3

2.0 Shipbuilding............................. ................................ .............................. 32.1 Economic importance ................................ ................................................................42.2 Employment trends ................................................................ ....................................52.3 Employment projections................................................................ ............................52.4 Skills and training ................................ ................................................................ ......6

3.0 Marine equipment............................. ................................ ..................... 63.1 Employment trends ................................................................ ....................................7

4.0 Shipping ............................. ................................ ................................ .... 84.1 Employment trends ................................................................ ....................................94.2 Skills and training ................................ ................................................................ ......9

5.0 Seaports ............................. ................................ ................................ .. 105.1 Economic impact................................ ................................................................ ......125.2 Employment trends ................................................................ ..................................125.3 Employment projections................................................................ ..........................135.4 Skills and training ................................ ................................................................ ....13

6.0 Maritime works ............................. ................................ ....................... 14

7.0 Maritime services ............................. ................................ ................... 14

8.0 Recreational boating ............................. ................................ .............. 148.1.1 Economic impact................................ ................................................................ ......158.2 Strengths and weaknesses ................................ .....................................................158.3 Employment trends ................................................................ ..................................158.4 Employment projections................................................................ ..........................168.5 Skills and labour market ................................................................ ..........................16

9.0 Coastal tourism ............................. ................................ ...................... 179.1 Economic impact................................ ................................................................ ......189.2 Employment trends ................................................................ ..................................189.3 Employment projections................................................................ ..........................209.4 Skills and training ................................ ................................................................ ....21


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1.0 SummaryI

This country report begins by summarising employment in the Spanish sea relatedsectors, followed by a more detail analysis of each individual sectorII. The core maritimesectors (shipbuilding, marine equipment, shipping, seaportsIII, maritime works andrecreational boating) employed some 90,486 persons in 2004/2005. Recreational boatingand seaports are the largest employers. Employment in the shipbuilding sector has seenthe proportionally largest decline from nearly 10,000 employees in 1995 to just over 5,000in 2004. Employment in the marine equipment sector increased until 2002 (at its peakgenerated over 41,000 jobs) but employment fell to 15,000 in 2004.

Table 1.1 Employment in the Spanish maritime cluster

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Direct employment

Shipbuilding

9,807 - 8,675 7,602 6,967 6,668 6,459 6,232 5,861 5,419 -

Marineequipment

25,120 32,436 23,041 35,214 34,465 37,289 36,781 41,520 32,751 14,523 -

Shipping 9,000 - - - - 8,500 - - - - 8,000

Seaports - - - - - 35,000 - - - - -

Maritimeworks

- - - - - - - - - - 742

Rec.boating

- - - - - - - - 25,240 - -

Maritimeservices

- - - - - - - - - 1,562 -

Coastaltourism

- - - - 1,252,086 1,364,178 1,378,370 1,450,966 1,536,430 1,576,377 1,665,234

Indirect employment

Shipbuilding

1,885 - 1,755 1,548 1,555 1,541 1,524 1,509 1,488 1,483 -

Shipping - - - - - 2,600 - - - - 1,500

Seaports - - - - - 110,000 - - - - -

Rec.boating

- - - - - - - - 43,575 - -

Although no studies have been carried out regarding employment in the coastal tourismsector, it is by far the largest sector in the marine and coastal economy in Spain. Statisticson employment in the wider tourism economy in the Spanish coastal regions showed that

I This report excludes employment related to fishing.II Please note that fishing and seafood processing sectors are excluded from this study.III Refers to the year 35,000.


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the sector currently employs some 1.7-1.8 million people, and employment in the sectorhas seen a major increase between 1999 and 2005, both in absolute and relative terms.

2.0 Shipbuilding

The Spanish shipbuilding industry builds multifunctional ships and offshore crafts,combining a variety of the most complex technologies. New advanced materials, modernpropulsion systems, electronic and navigational equipment are being developed in closecooperation with the supply and manufacturing industry in an increasing integratedprocess. New generations of integrated design methods and manufacturing processes areresulting in advanced and specialised ships, from modern LNGs, cargo ships andpassenger vessels to advanced fishing and other non-cargo carrying ships as well assophisticated naval and off-shore units.

Spanish shipbuilders have their market share mainly in the segment of sophisticated shiptypes with a high added value component, such as Ro-Pax ferries, multi purpose andadvanced shuttle tankers, offshore platforms and FPSO's, chemical and gas carriers,dredges of all types and high standard tugs and fishing vessels. The possibility ofmaintaining a high degree of research and development in shipbuilding is vital for thedevelopment of this kind of ships and indeed to the future of the Spanish shipbuildingindustry.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE SPANISH SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY

Strengths Specialisation of the companies (large fishing

and factory vessels, oceanographic researchvessels and reefers)

High quality products Good international reputation Good training schemes

Weaknesses Not enough investment in R&D

Opportunities Development of new markets such as cruise

vessels, passenger and ro-ro ferries, chemicaland product tankers, gas carriers and containers.

Threats Intensifying global competition

2.1 Economic importance

Spanish shipbuilding deliveries made up 2.0% of the global newbuild completions in 2003,thus taking the fourth place in the European Union, behind Germany, France and Italy.New orders for the Spanish shipbuilding sector constituted 0.5% of global new orders (the


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fifth place in the EU - behind Germany, Poland, Italy and Denmark). The generalshipbuilding order book reached 0.9 per cent of the total in the world at the end of 2003.This was the fourth highest figure in the EU, behind Germany, Italy and Poland. The valueof Spanish ship completions exceeded €1,900million in 2003, of which €900million areexported mainly to Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and BelgiumI.

Today the shipbuilding and ship repair sector has important links with not only the rest ofthe maritime industry but also other industrial and service sectors, such as: the electricalindustry, iron and steel manufacturing, the chemical industry, electronics, plastics, energytransformation, land transport, communications, textiles, education, information technologyand many more. This creates an important added value chain and is not only socially andeconomically very important but of high strategic value for the country as a whole.

2.2 Employment trends

In 2004, the shipbuilding sector provided employment for 5,419 persons directly andindirectly for 1,438 workers. The total employment level of the shipbuilding sector thereforewas 6,857 employees.

The sector has experienced a very strong decline in total employment since the mid-seventies. In the last decade employment in the sector reduced by nearly 45%, (from11,692 persons to 6,857 workers in 2004).

Table 2.1 Employment in the shipbuilding sector

Employment 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Direct 9,807 - 8,675 7,602 6,967 6,668 6,459 6,232 5,861 5,419

Indirect 1,885 - 1,755 1,548 1,555 1,541 1,524 1,509 1,488 1,483

Total 11,692 - 10,430 9,150 8,522 8,209 7,983 7,741 7,349 6,857

Source: Gernaval, 2005

2.3 Employment projections

The main reasons for the declining employment trend have been stated to be therestructuring of the sector and reductions in state aids. Spanish stakeholders in theshipbuilding industry have, however, predicted that employment in the sector is likely tostabilise in the next few years, as restructuring has now been nearly completed and

I Information extracted from the UNINAVE website: http://www.uninave.es/presentacion.asp


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Spanish shipyards have been receiving a constant flow of new orders. It was alsomentioned that the shipbuilding industry is now characterised by a high degree ofoutsourcing and many parts are now prepared by companies belonging to the maritimeequipment sector rather than shipbuilding sector (see next section). Therefore, someincreases in employment are more likely to take place in the equipment than in theshipbuilding sector.

2.4 Skills and training

The sector demands well trained staff and evidence suggests that these labour market skilldemands are well matched by the Spanish labour force and training schemes; the sector isnot experiencing skill or labour shortages at the moment. This finding is backed up by lowunemployment rates the sectorI.

In order to meet the changing skill needs, ESF funds have been used in Spain to help setup different training schemes (particularly in relation to lifelong learning) to ease adaptationto new technologies and the transferability of workers to related sectors. These coursesreached 20,000 people during 2004.

3.0 Marine equipment

The marine equipment sector in Spain has been increasing in its importance mainlybecause Spanish shipyards tend to subcontract a growing proportion of their production.The phenomena of subcontracting is taking place mainly because: It was the only way to reduce fixed costs that reduce the competitiveness of shipyards. Introduction of new and more complex technologies require further specialised skills

and only specialised companies are able to produce these high tech items.

A large majority of companies working in the marine equipment sector in Spain are highlydiversified and specialised SMEs. Economic impact of the Spanish maritime sector has notbeen calculated, however, it has been assessed that its value is today approximately 6.7times higher than the value of the direct shipbuilding industry. Thus, employment in thesector is characterised by a very strong dependence on the shipbuilding sector.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE SPANISH MARINE EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY

Strengths Weaknesses

I Spanish National Statistics Office, 2005


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Highly specialised companies. Adaptability of companies in the sector.

High dependence of the shipbuilding sector Low levels of entrepreneurship in the country

Opportunities New European and international

recommendations (IMO, LeaderSIP 2015)related to environmental rules, ballast, etc.(these can be either threat or opportunitydepending on how well companies –with the helpof public administration - prepare and finallyadapt themselves to the changes).

European initiatives such as the Europeantechnology platform Waterborne.

Threats Stagnation of Spanish productivity – which could

potentially be overcome with more publicinvestment in R&D in this sector and with acorrect transposition of the EU legislation aimedat fostering shipbuilding, like in the case ofGermany).

Competition from Asia (namely Japan, China andSouth Korea)


According to the Spanish Association of Marine Auxiliary Industries the sector providedemployment approximately for 14,523 people in 2004. Employment in the sector hasfluctuated heavily since the early nineties.

Table 3.1 Employment in the marine equipment sector, 1992 - 20041992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

17,294 22,483 20,135 25,120 32,436 23,041 35,214 34,465 37,289 36,781 41,520 32,751 14,523Source: AEDIMAR, 2006

The following graph illustrates employment trends from the past 15 years. Employmentpeaked in 2002 when the sector generated over 41,000 jobs.

Figure 3.1 Employment trends in the marine equipment sector, 1992 - 2004

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,00030,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Source: AEDIMAR, 2006


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4.0 Shipping

Spain is the European Union member state with the longest coastline, 8,000km. This facttogether with its geographical situation close to the axis of the major shipping routes isprogressively developing the status of Spain as a strategic hub for international shippingand as a maritime logistical platform for the South of Europe. An analysis of strengths andweaknesses together with opportunities and threats of the Spanish shipping sector hasbeen provided below.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE SPANISH SHIPPING SECTOR

Strengths Geographical location (close to one of the major

shipping axis of the world).

Weaknesses Companies too focused in the shortsea shipping

sector neglecting other areas of activity New technologies are not being applied as

promptly as it would be desirable. Lack of coherent, integrated transport policies.

Opportunities The Mediterranean Sea is developing as a key

transport route between Europe-Asia andEurope-North Africa.

Congestion at north European ports,consolidation of Spanish ports and theenlargement of Europe (especially Turkey) couldbe expected to foster the development of southEurope as a new European entrance.

Potentials of shortsea shipping and cruisemarket.

Threats Labour shortage A lack of investment in the sector A growing dependency on foreign workforce

In 2005, Spain had 189 ships with 2,395,745 GT and the Spanish shipping companiescontrolled over 300 ships with 4,176,997 GT. An average age of a ship was 14.8 years in2005I. The Spanish maritime transport sector consists of: 15 cargo ships 27 container ships 59 passenger and cargo ships 9 liquefied gas ships 16 petroleum tanker ships 10 refrigerated cargo ships 36 roll on/roll off ships

I Information extracted from: ANAVE, Merchant marine and shipping 2004-2005.http://www.anave.es/Vinc%20Recientes/MMTM-05.pdf


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26 of other types.

Though during 2004 there have not been important changes in Spanish transport policy,the Government is currently working on several new legislative initiatives with very highrelevance for the maritime industry, including a review of the Law on the economic andfiscal regime of Spanish Ports; a new Strategic Plan for infrastructures and transport whichestablishes a course of action for all the Ministry of Public Works activities up to 2020; anda new Code of Maritime Law compiling and in many aspects introducing importantchanges in the existent private and public regulation I.


The Spanish shipping sector employed (in vessels under the Spanish flag) 8,000 personsdirectly in 2005, and a further 1,500 workers indirectly. Indirect employment in this sectoris constituted by the jobs created by the ship agents (consignees) who deal with invoices,bill loading, taxes, etc. Employment of seafarers has continuously decreased since theearly 1980s. The decline was particularly drastic between 1980 and 1990 when the sectorwitnessed a decline of 38%. Over the past decade (1995-2005) further 2,100 jobs werelost (18% decline). Over the same period the number of foreign seafarers as a proportionof the total workforce has increased.

Table 4.1 Employment in the shipping sector, 1980 - 2005

Employment 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Direct 20,000 - - 9,000 8,500 8,000

Indirect 5,000 - - 2,600 - 1,500

Total 25,000 17,000 15,500 11,600 - 9,500Source: ANAVE, 2006

Bankruptcies, low wages, the perceived 'unattractiveness' of the sector and the lack ofinvestment by companies as well as by competent authorities have been said to be someof the reasons for the decline in employment in the Spanish shipping sector.


Employment in the shipping sector i a growing number of workers with specialist skills,particularly technical skills. Some authorities, particularly in the Basque region, areconcerned that there will not be enough skilled personnel in the Spanish shipping industryin the future to meet the labour demand.

I ECSA


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It has been estimated that only 2 out of 10 students in the maritime field end up taking up aseafaring post. Young people do not find a career on sea an attractive option due to thelong periods spent working away from home, poor salary (€2,300 a month for an officialposition) and due to poor career progression opportunities as it takes on an average 10 to15 years to become captain. However, there are some good possibilities of promotion inother sectors with better wages, which many former seafarers choose to take up. Forexample, engineering officers have good possibilities of finding well paid jobs in othersectors requiring engineering skills, and other officials can easily find better paid jobs inadministrative, maritime security or monitoring related jobs. Approximately 90% ofemployees of SASEMAR, a government funded maritime search and rescue service, areex-seafarers.

The Spanish dual route system for academic and professional qualifications means thatgraduates can pursue good careers ashore in maritime related professions with aminimum amount of sea time. This has the benefit of ensuring that some necessarymaritime posts, for example, in the Administration are not dependent on ex-seafarers.However, the disadvantage is that posts that do require sea experience are harder to filland/or are filled with personnel with little practical experience at sea.

5.0 Seaports

In 2000, over 20 million people used Spanish ports facilities. In terms of trade, 51% ofSpanish exports and 78% of imports were shipped by sea, in addition to 15% of thecountry's domestic trade. On the European level, the Spanish Port System plays animportant role in the supply of vessels and specifically in the provision of bunkeringservices.

The state-owned Port System in Spain consists of 50 Ports of General Interest, managedby 27 Port Authorities, with the Public Entity "Puertos del Estado" responsible for theircoordination and control. Puertos del Estado is responsible to the Spanish Ministry forTransport and Public Works and is charged with the execution of the Government's portpolicy. The legislation provides the Spanish port system with the necessary instruments toimprove its competitive position in the global market, by allowing the set up of extendedself-management faculties for the Port Authorities, which must be run on commercialbusiness terms. Within this framework, the General Interest Ports are intended to respondto the 'landlord' model, whereby the Port Authority does no more than provide the port landand infrastructure and regulate the use of this public property, whereas the port servicesare essentially provided by private sector operators under an authorization or concessionregime. Today, the functions of ports is moving beyond their traditional role as mere pointsof cargo loading and unloading and passenger transfer, to become commercial platforms


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where a whole range of activities generating added value for the cargo are provided, fullyintegrated into the logistic and intermodal transport chains.

The number of ships using Spanish ports has risen. It is interesting to highlight, however,that while the number of vessels has increased by an annual rate of 3%, the volume oftheir cargo has grown four times faster, by an annual rate of around 12%.This means thatthe average ship size shifted from 5,000 GT (in 1993) to 8,600 GT (in 2000). This largervessel size calls for investment in deeper ports, increased infrastructure and betterequipped quays and terminals. The following table provides a more detailed overview ofweaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats of Spanish ports.


Strengths Maritime transport is one of the most important

means of transport for exports and imports. Spain is becoming an international shipping and

logistical platform in the South of Europe.

Weaknesses National land-based transport networks tend to

be very much centralised around Madrid notreflecting the natural movement of people andmerchandises in Spain. This has a direct effecton ports as most of them are poorly connectedwith other transportation means (trains, roads).

National ports are centrally managed and thereis a need for more decentralised managementwith authorities closer to the day-to-day problemsof ports. However, possible decentralisationshould always be backed by efficientcoordination in order to ensure complementarity.

Opportunities Within the context of marine transport, the

Mediterranean Sea has developed as a keytransport route between Europe-Asia andEurope-North Africa.

Congestion at north European ports,consolidation of Spanish ports and theenlargement of Europe (especially Turkey) canbe expected to foster the development of southEurope as the new entrance to Europe.

Other potential markets, which can also fosterthe development of the Spanish ports areshortsea shipping and cruises markets.

Threats Efficiency and competitiveness of the ports. Lack of coordination which makes some Spanish

ports to compete with each other Lack of investment in infrastructure.


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5.1 Economic impact

According to the web site of “Puertos del Estado” I, the direct, indirect and induced activitiesof Spanish ports account for some 20% of the transport sector's GDP in Spain, and 1.1%of the country's GDP as a whole. It also directly sustains over 35,000 jobs and indirectlycontributes to the creation of further 110,000 jobs.


No studies have been carried out to calculate employment in the Spanish seaport sector,only estimations have been obtained from the trade union CC.OO. It has been estimatedthat in 2000 Spanish seaports employed some 35,000 workers directly and further 110,000indirectly. Indirect employment is deemed to cover all activities related to ports andshipping, thus is an over-estimation of the total indirect employment of the Spanish ports.

Table 5.1 Employment in the Spanish seaports in 2000

Year Direct Indirect Total

2000 35 000 110 000 145 000Source: CC.OO, 2005

In terms of trends in employment, the port sector in Spain witnessed a decline inemployment during the period of restructuring of the sector (in the early 90’s) due to higherlevels of outsourcing. As it has been mentioned above, port authorities today only focus onprovision of land and infrastructure and regulate the use of the property. Most port servicesare today provided by private sector operators.

After a period of decline in the sector, the Spanish stakeholders confirmed that thesituation is improving and employment is expected to slightly increase in the upcomingyears.

There are currently 225 maritime pilots operating in Spanish ports II. The occupation isseen a prestigious one and salaries are high so the retention rate is extremely high.However, experts have forecasted a shortage of sufficiently experienced candidates in 5-8years time.

I http://www.puertos.es/index2.jsp?langId=1&catId=1014805434023&pageId=1039711108471II Southampton Solent University: The mapping of career paths in the maritime industries. ECSA and EFT.


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As stated above, predictions for employment in the sector for the coming decade are fairlypositive. Economic activities in the Spanish seaports are expected to grow by 4.7% until2007, by another 4.2% until 2010 and by another 2.8% until 2020I. However, it has to bekept in mind that employment is only created through open public competitions and thenumber of jobs offered through these competitions tends to be much lower than the actualdemand. It must also be remembered that due to technological developments,employment in the port sector is not expected to grow as rapidly as the port traffic. Forexample, employment in cargo handling activities is expected to increase, but only veryslightly.

The main factor affecting employment development in the sector is the growing importanceof the maritime transport sector. However, if the growth of the maritime transport is notaccompanied by improvements in appropriate infrastructure, impact on employment will bemore limited.


Port management demands a trained workforce. However, in Spain the demand for labourin port authorities is currently not matched by appropriate training supply as the averagetraining of the workforce is relatively low. Furthermore, the sector is currently experiencinglabour shortages. The shortage is not due to the poor image of the sector as civil servantpositions offer far more security than positions in the private sector. Furthermore, wagesare said to be competitive but yet the companies in the sector find it difficult to fill in postswith highly qualified labour.

Employment in cargo handling demands both highly qualified as well as low skilledemployees and according to the Spanish stakeholders this demand is well matched by thelabour and training supply. Companies in this sector do not experience particular problemsin recruitment mainly due to the fact that salaries and general working conditions are quiteattractive.

Workforce mobility from the port sector to other maritime sectors has been stated to below. This is explained by the civil service based employment in port authorities andattractive working conditions (in terms of salary) in cargo handling duties. Promotionpossibilities are assured under civil servants regime and are fair in the case of stevedores.

I Information extracted from the magazine of the Ministry for public works nº 538, Un futuro prometedor, March 2005.


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6.0 Maritime works

DRACE, Construcciones Especiales y Dragados, S.A. is one of the leading Spanishcompanies in the field of dredging and marine works. It employs 354 technicians, 51administrative personnel and 337 persons in operational management – a total of 742employees.

7.0 Maritime services

No studies exist on employment in the maritime service sector in Spain. For the purpose ofthis study, estimations have been obtained on some segments of the wider maritimeservice sector. For example, salvage operation employ some 400 persons and VTSservices in ports employ further 250 workers. Employment in the Spanish MaritimeAdministration is an attractive option for those graduates from University who are seekinga shore-based occupation in the marine field with a minimum of seagoing commitment. Inaddition to the seven universities providing maritime related studies, there are 12 technicalcolleges in this field in Spain. Together they employ about 500 people, with 200 of thesebeing maritime education and training lecturers in the universities. There are about 150technical staff working in Classification Societies. Of these, approximately 25-30% are ex-seafarers who are seen as being desirable employees because of their knowledge of howships work.

Table 7.1 Employment in the maritime service sector, 2004

Sub-sector Employment

Maritime search and rescue, salvageoperations

400

VTS services in ports 250

Spanish Maritime Administration 262

Maritime education and training 500

Classification societies 150

Total 1,562Source: Southampton Solent University

8.0 Recreational boating

The recreational boat and yacht industry in Spain includes the following sub-sectors: Recreational vessels Recreational services


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Ports (321 yachting ports in Spain).

8.1.1 Economic impact

According to the ADIN 2005 economic reportXI, economic growth in the sector has beenabove the average growth of the Spanish economy (2.7% in 2004). This constitutes anaverage production growth of over 10% for the period 2000-2003. Furthermore, direct,indirect and induced activities of the Spanish recreational boat and yacht industryaccounted for 0.22% of the country’s industry GDP in 2004.

8.2 Strengths and weaknessesXII


Strengths Almost new market in Spain far from being as

saturated as the markets of other Europeancountries.

Good weather conditions.

Weaknesses Geographic dispersion of the companies. Market composed of SMEs which find it hard to

compete in a globalised market and which do notcollaborate together enought because of theirgeographic dispersion.

Strong dependence on prices of raw materialsand oil fuels.

Opportunities Growing purchasing power of the citizens.

Threats Employment in the sector vulnerable to changes

of the overall global political situation (oil crisis,etc.).

Growing pressures from environmental groupsagainst the construction of recreational ports.


The following table outlines the number of people directly or indirectly employed in therecreational boating industry in 2003XIII. The table shows that the sector providedemployment for just over 25,000 people in 2003 of which 23.8% (6,000 persons) weredirectly involved in manufacturing or repair of recreational boats. Distribution and saleswere the largest sub-sector by employing 8,000 persons in 2003. Indirectly the sectorprovided employment for further 43,575 persons in port related activities (mainly leisureservices).

XI ADIN (2005) Economic report: recreational boating in Spain.XII Information obtained from the ADIN, “Economic report: recreational boating in Spain”, 2005 and an interview with thepresident of the Spanish Marine Industries Association (ADIN)XIII ADIN (2005) Economic report: recreational boating in Spain.


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Table 8.1 Employment in the recreational boating industry, 2003

Sector No ofemployees

Construction and repair of recreational boats 6,000

Distribution and commerce 8,000

Manufacturing of accessories and related equipment 2,500

Suppliers or importers of material linked to therecreational boating industryXIV

1,000

Yachting ports 3,720

Staff outside yachting portsXV 3,420

Charters 600

Total direct employment 25,240

Indirect employment in ports (leisure services) 43,575

Total direct and indirect employment 68,815

Turning to look at trends from the past decade, according to ADINXVI from 1993 to 1997the sector was in a crisis, which affected mainly companies focused in the construction ofrecreational boats. However, since 1998 employment in the sector has grown by 4%annually.


According to the president of the Spanish Marine Industries Association the employmentforecast for the next years is positive. If no major changes will take place in relation to theglobal political situation or environmental concerns, employment is expected to grow in thecompanies providing services in this sector. This positive forecast is strongly linked to thegrowing purchasing power of the local population in Spain and backed up by Spain’spopularity as a tourist destination (which is not expected to decrease in the next fewyears).

8.5 Skills and labour market

The industry representatives from Spain have reported skill shortages, mainly radiotechnicians and electricians. Some regions are setting up bespoke training schemes toaddress this problem. However, the root cause for the shortage in the service side of the

XIV Aluminium, rustproof materials, resin, etc.XV Staff related to recreational boating but working in places different from the yachting ports (clubs without yachting port,nautical resorts, etc.)XVI Interview with Miguel Company Martorell president of the Spanish Marine Industries Association (ADIN)


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industry is the seasonal nature of the sector, which makes it somewhat unattractive forsome workers in the sector. The regions wish to receive further support from the State tosolve the problem.

9.0 Coastal tourism

Long, attractive coastal regions have traditionally been the main attractions forinternational tourists to Spain. Today the short break and city tourism segments are alsogrowing areas of the Spanish tourism industry.

The tourism sector in Spain (which according to the World Tourism OrganisationXVII is thesecond world destination just after France) is together with the building and constructionsector one of those sectors that has fostered economic growth during the last decades.The seventies saw a major boost in tourism to Spain, mainly from Europe. Since then thesector has grown rapidly, so strongly that it has been described 'uncontrolled'. Thisexplosive expansion of infrastructure and superstructure to cater for the demands of thetourism industry has led to over-exploitation of nature and sea resources. The followingfigure provides a more detailed analysis of strengths, weaknesses of the Spanish tourismsector.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE SPANISH TOURISM SECTOR

Strengths A great variety of resources to cater for different

types of tourism demand (historic and culturalvalue, climate, natural resources, etc.)

Security of the country (compared to some otherdestinations).

Established tourist infra- and superstructure(hotels, restaurants, museums, etc.)

Weaknesses Uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources Limited natural resources Overcrowding Stagnation of the sector

Opportunities Development of new markets (elder people,

domestic market, cultural tourism, rural tourism,etc.)

Threats More intense competition from other

Mediterranean countries Exploitation of natural resources Increasing house prices

XVII Quoted in the Report from the Spanish Institute for tourism studies, 2004.http://www.iet.tourspain.es/informes/documentacion/publicaciones/TurisCifras2004_b_Esp.pdf


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9.1 Economic impact

The direct, indirect and induced activity of the tourism industry accounted for 11.1% (€90million) of the country’s GDP in 2004XVIII. The economic impact of the tourism sector hasincreased sharply over the last decade; According to a report from the Spanish Institute fortourism studiesXIX the country GDP coming from the tourism sector has grown from 70million €in 2000 to 90 million €in 2004, which accounts for a 28.57% growth of theeconomic impact of the tourism activity over a four year period.

According to the Spanish Tourism Institute 61% of foreign tourists can be classified astourists in coastal regions, whilst just over 31.1% of the domestic tourism can be classifiedas coastal tourism. Even though coastal tourism still continues to be one of the maincontributors to the economic growth in the country, it is starting to slow down.


According to the active population surveyXX, 2,042,350 people where employed in tourismactivities in Spain in 2003, which represents 12.2% of total employment. Just over a thirdof this employment (35.9%) was related to employment in restaurants and bars and 12.8%was related to employment in hotels.

No studies have been carried out on employment in the coastal tourism sector in Spain,even if in many Spanish regions coastal tourism is the key employment generating sector.The following table 8.1 outlines employment in the Spanish coastal regions which hasbeen drafted together with Instituto de Estudios Turísticos and the Spanish StatisticsOffice. These statistics cover all the tourism related employment in the Spanish regionssituated by the coast but the figures are likely to be an over-estimation of total employmentin coastal tourism sector as such as only a few regions are within 50km from the sea.Especially the region of Andalucía covers a substantial part of the Southern Spain, andonly a proportion of tourism employment in this region can be regarded as employmentrelated to coastal tourism. On the other hand, all tourism employment in the Balearic orCanary Islands tends to be coastal tourism related. It must also be noted here that thesestatistics cover the wider tourism economy, including transportation industry.

XVIII Information extracted from a report from the Spanish Institute for tourism studies, 2004.http://www.iet.tourspain.es/informes/documentacion/publicaciones/TurisCifras2004_b_Esp.pdfXIX Information extracted from the report from the Spanish Institute for tourism studies, 2004.http://www.iet.tourspain.es/informes/documentacion/publicaciones/TurisCifras2004_b_Esp.pdfXX Information extracted from: Spanish statistical institute, Active population survey, 2003.http://www.iet.tourspain.es/informes/documentacion/Epa/Informe_Empleo_2003.pdf


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According to this data, just over 1.6million people were employed in the Spanish coastaltourism sector in 2005. An increase in employment since 1999 has been strong. Today thesector employs over 400,000 people more than in 1999. This indicates a growth of 33%over a seven-year period. Employment in the region of Valencia has nearly doubled.

Table 9.1 Coastal tourism employment in the coastal regions of Spain

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Change

AndalucíaXXI

265,670 283,998 294,401 312,627 313,744 331,248 374,939 41%

Asturias 36,144 42,052 43,912 44,072 53,419 52,354 51,412 42%

BalearicIslands

95,516 107,261 96,275 103,182 114,422 107,846 116,342 22%

CanaryIslands

137,177 145,525 146,688 152,068 165,944 180,964 182,480 33%

Cantabria 20,824 26,083 27,643 27,415 29,814 29,462 26,636 28%

Catalonia 315,813 334,321 331,152 368,653 395,438 386,512 397,094 26%

Valencia 161,552 180,828 195,034 196,871 208,230 223,210 240,789 49%

Galicia 90,477 98,773 102,649 107,292 110,803 108,943 121,100 34%

Murcia 37,385 45,031 44,360 45,162 49,548 50,910 50,036 34%

Basquecountry

91,528 100,306 96,256 93,624 95,068 104,928 104,406 14%

Total 1,252,086 1,364,178 1,378,370 1,450,966 1,536,430 1,576,377 1,665,234 33%Source: Spanish Statistics Office and Instituto de Estudios Turísticos (Spanish Government)

When looking at occupational breakdown of employees in tourism industry (1,486,816employees), it is clear to see that nearly two thirds are employed by the transport andrestaurant sectors: 30.2% of employees work in restaurants. 29.9% of employees work in transports related sectors supporting tourism industry. 16.5% are employed by hotels. 9.7% are employed in tourist attractions. 8.3% are employed in leisure services. 2.7% of employees are working for tour operators.

61.3% of these employees were under 40 years old and 29.5% were under 30 years old.

When looking at the sectoral breakdown of self-employed people in the tourism sector(552,960 people), over half of entrepreneurs were restaurant owners:

XXI Particularly great overestimation of coastal tourism employment as Andalucías covers a substantial part of SouthernSpain.


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51,3% - restaurants 35,4% - transport 3,1% - hotels 1,1% - tour operators 9.1% - leisure services, tourist attractions etc.


It has been estimatedXXII that the employment potential of the coastal tourism is very closeto reaching its optimal level and indeed it is expected that in the coming years employmentgrowth will not only slow down but either stabilise or even slightly decrease. The reasonsfor this forecast are three-fold: Stagnation of the sector (increasing competition, slight decline in international tourists,

limited resources, etc.). Concentration of companies (it is expected that in the coming years there will be

acquisitions and tourism companies will need to concentrate in order to survive). Unattractiveness of the sector

► For entrepreneurs which have to face heavy tax burdens and low benefits whensetting up a business

► Because of low wages on temporary employment contracts the sector is unattractivefor employees.

On the other hand, employment in the Spanish tourism industry as a whole is expected togrow – according to the latest findings from the Tourism Satellite Accounting. According tothis data the Spanish travel and tourism industry currently employs 1.5 million peoplewhilst this is expected to increase to over 1.72 million by 2016. Employment in the widertravel and tourism economy is expected to grow impressively from current 3.74million to5.1 million by 2016.

Turning to assess the future of employment in different sub-sectors of the tourism industry,the following has been projectedXXIII: Tour operators now face the threat of low cost companies offering their services and an

increasing number of tourists arranging their holidays by themselves via the Internet.

XXII Information extracted from: Mariscal Galeano, Adela. “Mercado de trabajo y turismo en Andalucía : actividad,

ocupación y paro (1990-2003). 2005.

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/turismocomercioydeporte/absys/abwebp.exe/X6104/ID8078/G0XXIII Information extracted from: Mariscal Galeano, Adela. “Mercado de trabajo y turismo en Andalucía : actividad,ocupación y paro (1990-2003). 2005.http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/turismocomercioydeporte/absys/abwebp.exe/X6104/ID8078/G0


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However, it is widely believed that tour operators will react promptly to these threats andtherefore employment will not be so deeply affected.

Employment in the accommodation sector is expected to remain strong. Employment forecast for the restaurants and bar sector is the worst. This is due to the

fragmentation of the sector (mainly composed of small businesses), and to the heavyfiscal burdens (taxes, legal requirements) which leave small restaurants with lowbenefits.


According to the statistics from the national statistic office the tourism sector had anunemployment rate of 13% in 2005. The sector is not experiencing skill shortages due tothe predominance of demand for fairly low skilled workforce (except hotels, tour operatorsand leisure centres where more skilled personnel is needed). However, the demand forlabour is greater than supply during high seasons (from July to September).

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